


Who You're Running To

by deandratb



Series: Always Running [2]
Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: F/M, Mention of Tom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 03:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6687496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deandratb/pseuds/deandratb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lighter sequel to angsty present. <i>Then she took a long, slow breath…and a leap of faith.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Who You're Running To

**Author's Note:**

  * For [broken_hearted_bard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/broken_hearted_bard/gifts).



> Disclaimed. I fixed it! ;)

“I’m sorry,” Liz said when Red answered the door. 

“For what?” He tilted his head curiously. She hadn’t contacted him in the week since her departure, and he had accepted that he might not hear from her for a long time.

_He didn’t like it, but he accepted it._

“I’m sorry for the note,” she explained, pushing past him to enter the safe house.

“By all means, come in,” Red replied, just a tad annoyed. Common courtesy would mean **not** barging in uninvited, after reappearing without warning…not that he cared much about that sort of thing when he was doing the barging. _Or the reappearing._ But he expected better from Lizzie.

“It’s safer in here,” she told him, as though that explained anything. “I mean, it is, right? It’s safe here?” She paused, searching for the right words. “It’s…secure. No one’s listening?”

Now he really was curious. “We’re the only ones here,” Red reassured her, “and there’s no surveillance. What happened?”

Liz sank down onto the couch, fidgeting while he sat across from her. Then she took a long, slow breath…and a leap of faith.

“I’m pregnant.”

“Oh.” He nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense.”

“It does?”

Red swallowed hard, looking anywhere but at her. “Yeah.”

She read between the lines. “You guessed.”

“I thought, maybe.” He shrugged, uncomfortable. “I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Okay. Well, anyway, it’s true. I got it confirmed today…and I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t know if I can be a mom with everything that’s still hanging over me. I don’t even have my own apartment!”

Red watched her, carefully still. “And Tom?”

“He’s not a part of this. I’m not going to tell him. Not until I decide what I want.”

He nodded. “If I may ask, then, Lizzie…what are you doing here? Why have you come to me?”

“Well, I mentioned the whole no-idea-what-I’m-doing thing. I could really use a place to be safe while I figure it out. I knew…I knew no matter what happened between us, that you would let me have that.” She risked a glance up at him through her lashes. “Was I right?”

His smile was all the answer she needed. “I happen to have an empty room available, if you’re interested.”

****

“I’ve decided I’m going to keep the baby,” Liz told him over dinner a few days later.

Red nodded. “That’s wonderful, Lizzie. I can help you find a suitable place to settle into…that is, if you’d like the help.”

She shook her head, and his face fell. They avoided talking about the night she left. _Neither of them wanted to admit what they’d heard._ But trying to protect her, to make her life easier, was an important part of who he was–it hurt, not being allowed to.

“I don’t want a new place,” she blurted in a rush, startling him. “I don’t want…my **own** place. You have experience with babies, you know me really well. I’d like to stay, with you.”

Misunderstanding his frozen expression, Liz continued. “I know that it’s not something to consider lightly. And that it would make your life more dangerous, harder. I’d just like you to think about it. Please.”

Now it was Red who shook his head, who set his fork down with precision and got out of his chair. By the time he reached her side of the table, she was crying. He took her face in his hands and kissed each cheek, waited until she looked up at him.

“I would love for you, and your baby, to stay,” he told her solemnly. “With all of my heart, Lizzie, I would be honored.”

She smiled and brushed at her eyes while he returned to his chair. It wouldn’t be easy; she knew that. There was still Tom, and the part where she had no clue how to be a parent.

But Red always had a plan. He would help. 

_She trusted him._

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to [broken_hearted_bard](http://archiveofourown.org/users/broken_hearted_bard)! I'll always fix it. <3


End file.
